Kansas high school basketball state tournaments canceled because of coronavirus
For the first time since 1907, Kansas won’t have a state champion.
The 2020 state basketball tournaments have been canceled without make-up because of the spread of COVID-19 or coronavirus, the Kansas State High School Activities Association announced Thursday night during the quarterfinal round of the tournaments.
The announcement comes on the heels of a KSHSAA emergency executive board of directors meeting at 7 p.m. KSHSAA assistant executive director Mark Lentz said the vote was “unanimous.”
KSHSAA met at 10 p.m. Wednesday to decide the fate of Thursday’s games. Games went on as scheduled with fans in the stands. KSHSAA met again at 4:30 p.m. Thursday for another conversation. The 7 p.m. meeting sealed the tournaments’ fate.
“You never want to react, and we tried not to react to all that was going on across the country with the decisions made,” Lentz said. “Either way you look at it, it’s tough for kids, and we understand that, but we felt like it was the decision that was best made for everyone involved.”
The announcement came during the second quarter of the Class 5A quarterfinal game between Topeka Seaman and Maize. That game and all others from Thursday were completed.
“We wanted every team to have the opportunity to play at least one game,” Lentz said. “It’s not fun. Nobody enjoys having to do this at all because every kid wants an opportunity to play for a state championship.”
Lentz said playing without fans in the stands or rescheduling the tournament was out of the question upon the comments from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, announcing a state of emergency in the state.
Kelly’s comments came after the first death was announced in Kansas out of an undocumented case of the coronavirus in Wyandotte County. Lentz said there is no concern that KSHSAA waited too long to cancel the tournaments.
“When we started the day today, the number of documented cases were pretty low within our state,” Lentz said.
There has not been any discussion on how the coronavirus will affect spring sports, including high school baseball, softball or girls soccer.
Here are the teams that finished their season with a quarterfinal win in the 2020 state tournaments:
Class 6A Boys Semifinalists
- No. 1 Campus (23-0)
- No. 3 Blue Valley Northwest (21-2)
- No. 4 Blue Valley North (20-3)
- No. 7 Olathe South (17-6)
Class 6A Girls Semifinalists
- No. 1 Liberal (23-0)
- No. 2 Topeka (23-0)
- No. 4 Derby (21-2)
- No. 6 Olathe East (18-5)
Class 5A Boys Semifinalists
- No. 1 Andover (23-0)
- No. 2 Basehor-Linwood (21-2)
- No. 3 Hays (16-6)
- No. 5 Kapaun Mt. Carmel (17-6)
Class 5A Girls Semifinalists
- No. 1 McPherson (22-1)
- No. 2 Andover Central (22-1)
- No. 3 Topeka Seaman (20-3)
- No. 4 St. Thomas Aquinas (18-4)
Class 4A Boys Semifinalists
- No. 2 KC Piper (22-1)
- No. 3 Bishop Miege (19-4)
- No. 4 Augusta (19-4)
- No. 8 Rose Hill (13-10)
Class 4A Girls Semifinalists
- No. 1 Nickerson (21-2)
- No. 3 KC Piper (21-2)
- No. 4 Bishop Miege (21-2)
- No. 7 Clay Center (16-6)
Class 3A Boys Semifinalists
- No. 2 Collegiate (21-3)
- No. 3 Beloit (21-3)
- No. 4 Galena (19-5)
- No. 8 St. Marys (14-10)
Class 3A Girls Semifinalists
- No. 1 Nemaha Central (24-0)
- No. 2 Frontenac (22-2)
- No. 3 Halstead (21-3)
- No. 5 Cheney (21-3)
Class 2A Boys Semifinalists
- No. 2 Bishop Seabury Academy (21-2)
- No. 5 Sterling (20-4)
- No. 6 Garden Plain (19-5)
- No. 8 Hillsboro (15-9)
Class 2A Girls Semifinalists
- No. 1 Spearville (24-0)
- No. 2 Trego (23-1)
- No. 4 Valley Heights (22-2)
- No. 6 Garden Plain (19-5)
Class 1A Boys Semifinalists
- No. 2 Little River (23-3)
- No. 3 St. John-Hudson (23-3)
- No. 5 South Central (21-5)
- No. 8 Stockton (15-11)
Class 1A Girls Semifinalists
- No. 1 Central Plains (26-0)
- No. 3 Olpe (26-0)
- No. 4 Hanover (24-1)
- No. 7 Centralia (19-8)
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 8:56 PM.